Opinions on the effects of products like grammarly.

gimli · Feb 21, 2019

Hi Everyone.

Im just going to jump straight into it. Im English second language and while i am perfecting my craft it was pointed to out to me that I was improving but my other flaws were showing.

This specifically was grammar and just writing in general. I have come to realise how quick even I turn away from any offer that has bad grammar or a spelling mistake, I am a hypocrite i know. What I don't understand is that I read a tremendous amount, and write somewhat too and while it did improve my language use it has sort of hit a plateau. I have always found that practice really improves my adeptness at anything but not this. Maybe my mind is just not good with language in the same manner that some people are just naturally bad at maths. I am not where I need to be.

Grammarly ads have been in my face for quite a bit now probably due to my googling specifics on writing. Its appealing and I think in the short term it would help. My only concern is that if you have this program do it for you do you still learn will you still improve?

Updown · Feb 21, 2019

It really depends what you're looking for long-term.

I used to teach English as a foreign language and while some students found things like grammarly helpful, many did say in the long run it did 'pause' their learning, as it's easy to get lazy and let the product/programme do all the work for you. I think if you do use one of these programmes you really want to be analysing/practising every change they make on your writing, so you can learn from it.

maggiee19 · Feb 23, 2019

I used to have Grammarly on my computer but I don't anymore because I had to reset my computer to factory settings. I forgot the password to my Microsoft account (Outlook) and I couldn't use my computer, and I never bothered to install Grammarly on my computer again. However, when I had it, and when I used it, it was really helpful. It taught me to write better and expand my vocabulary.

Bing Z · Feb 23, 2019

Disclaimer: I use the free version of Grammarly and exclusively for fiction writing at home.

Before I present my snippets to my writing group, I will run them through Grammarly, which usually finds some mistakes I have overlooked. But while this program is leagues better than MS Word's grammar checker, it is still not 100% foolproof. I reject about 10% of its suggestions.

So I think it is helpful, but thou shalt not rely it to fix all your mess. You need to know what you are doing, and it can serve as another layer of proofing.

Al X. · Feb 24, 2019

The other thing about these grammar checkers is that in dialogue, which is 80% of what happens in most fiction, grammar errors are usually intentional.

JimRac · Feb 28, 2019

I've never used Grammarly, so can't comment on that, but if you feel like you're up for studying more on English grammar, I can strongly recommend Basic English Grammar for Dummies. I'm a native speaker, so had many of the rules ingrained, but I must admit I didn't really understand them. (I must have daydreamed quite a bit during English class.

) As an adult I had tried any number of textbooks, but the approach of this particular book opened my eyes--lots of big time light bulb moments while reading it.

Maybe you can pick it up or download it from your library to give it a try.

If you decide to do so, to be clear, I'm recommending Basic English Grammar of Dummies. There is also an English Grammar for Dummies, but its structure and approach is similar to the other textbooks that didn't click for me.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119063477/?tag=absowrit-20

Best,
Jim

Winfred · Mar 9, 2019

Hi!

I'm trying to avoid a monthly bill as Grammarly charges by the month. I also wonder why one must subscribe by the month instead of just buying it at one price as grammar rules don't change. I suppose the system and how it functions changes and needs updates, but paying by the month and an ongoing link to them (it's a continuous link isn't it?) doesn't seem necessary to me. If I use Grammarly then I wouldn't have to hire a copy editor? Is there a good free grammar checker, or one that you pay once to and make updates once in a while? Thanks for having this thread as it is helping me with my decisions and saving me a lot of money.

Kindest Regards,
Winfred

LeslieWilliams · Apr 11, 2019

As of 4/2019 Grammarly basic appears to be free on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. Guess I'll find out if that changes....

TrinaM · Apr 11, 2019

I'm not 100% sure about this, but I heard a tech talk that was talking about Grammarly's terms of service. They do talk about why the terms would potentially be worded that way, and how this would relate to the free version. The company needs to make money. They appear to be reserving the right to serve ads in some way, based upon what they learn from analyzing what you type. As the one researcher says: to evaluate your grammar, they have to see what you type. The question is: why do they need to store it?

I tried Grammarly and while I think it could be useful, I found it more annoying than helpful. Probably because I deliberately butcher our language when needed.

JDWallawine · May 13, 2019

I am using the free version of grammerly on my phone and computer. I am really happy with its service. It claims it will do more if I pay for the full version, however as mentioned, I don't use every suggestion either. It tells you why it is suggesting the change, so it is easy to decide if it is right or not.

Opinions on the effects of products like grammarly.

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